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fyziksgirl's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
A great end to the series. Probably my least favorite of the 3, the ending is more of an everyone works out than a dealing with when things don't work out perfectly, but I still love the characters and their relationships and growth are amazing. Highly recommend the series.
nixreadsbooks's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tiffani_reads's review against another edition
5.0
I’m so sad that Bat’s story is complete but I throughly enjoyed this series. I feel like these books are very important for kids not just with autism but other learning disabilities to see that they can accomplish great things.
In this book Bat is experiencing a lot of emotions around having to return his skunk to the wild as he is getting big enough. This is something that is very hard for him because it is a new experience. Throughout the book Bat learns to deal with these emotions in his own way with his own coping mechanisms.
This story has a happy ending and I cannot express how much I loved how this series ended. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
In this book Bat is experiencing a lot of emotions around having to return his skunk to the wild as he is getting big enough. This is something that is very hard for him because it is a new experience. Throughout the book Bat learns to deal with these emotions in his own way with his own coping mechanisms.
This story has a happy ending and I cannot express how much I loved how this series ended. I will definitely be reading more from this author in the future.
sandra_foriers's review against another edition
3.0
The A Boy Called Bat series follows young Bixie Alexander Tam, nicknamed Bat. His mother is a veterinary and comes home one day with an orphaned skunk kit. Bat gets to take care of the skunk, whom he calls Thor, until Thor is old enough to be put back into the wild.
In this third installment in the series, we see how Bat struggles with the idea of having to let his beloved skunk kit go.
I really liked this premise right from the start. Bat, who is somewhere on the autism spectrum, has to cope with a lot of changes in his life. The end of the school year is near and that means Bat has to say goodbye to his teacher mr Grayson and Babycakes, the class bunny. His father introduces him to his new girlfriend. What's worse, Bat's best friend Israel is leaving for the summer, which means he might not be back to support Bat when he needs to let Thor go.
What I love most about this series is how the author succeeds in creating an incredibly diverse cast of characters without forcing this diversity on her readers. Aside from Bat's autism, the author also hints at the fact that Bat has a non-caucasian ethnicity. Bat's parents are divorced and his friend group, especially his best friend Israel are heavily implied to be non-white. I love how this whole mix of colourful people blends so nicely without ever feeling like Elana K. Arnold was just checking off some representation boxes.
Every situation is also described so incredibly realistically. I really felt for poor little Bat who was struggling to cope with all these changes.
However, this is undercut by the ending. After three books of building up tension to the emotional goodbye between Bat and Thor, the author completely undercuts this by letting Bat keep Thor.
I find this problematic on so many levels. First of, as I mentioned before, this ending completely undercuts the emotional build-up the author had so carefully constructed throughout the books. Now it just feels a bit lazy.
Secondly, I also believe that this sends out a very problematic message. Skunks are wild animals, and therefore belong in the wild. By letting Bat keep Thor, the author basically tells us it's okay to keep wild animals as pets, just as long as we take good care of them. THIS IS NOT OK! As an adult, I know this, but the target audience for this book is younger middle graders. We should be really careful with sending out this type of message.
But what I'm most disappointed about, is the fact that we missed out on an incredibly interesting and valuable lesson on letting go because the author was afraid to kill her darlings. Or rather, to set them free in the wild again.
In this third installment in the series, we see how Bat struggles with the idea of having to let his beloved skunk kit go.
I really liked this premise right from the start. Bat, who is somewhere on the autism spectrum, has to cope with a lot of changes in his life. The end of the school year is near and that means Bat has to say goodbye to his teacher mr Grayson and Babycakes, the class bunny. His father introduces him to his new girlfriend. What's worse, Bat's best friend Israel is leaving for the summer, which means he might not be back to support Bat when he needs to let Thor go.
What I love most about this series is how the author succeeds in creating an incredibly diverse cast of characters without forcing this diversity on her readers. Aside from Bat's autism, the author also hints at the fact that Bat has a non-caucasian ethnicity. Bat's parents are divorced and his friend group, especially his best friend Israel are heavily implied to be non-white. I love how this whole mix of colourful people blends so nicely without ever feeling like Elana K. Arnold was just checking off some representation boxes.
Every situation is also described so incredibly realistically. I really felt for poor little Bat who was struggling to cope with all these changes.
However, this is undercut by the ending. After three books of building up tension to the emotional goodbye between Bat and Thor, the author completely undercuts this by letting Bat keep Thor.
I find this problematic on so many levels. First of, as I mentioned before, this ending completely undercuts the emotional build-up the author had so carefully constructed throughout the books. Now it just feels a bit lazy.
Secondly, I also believe that this sends out a very problematic message. Skunks are wild animals, and therefore belong in the wild. By letting Bat keep Thor, the author basically tells us it's okay to keep wild animals as pets, just as long as we take good care of them. THIS IS NOT OK! As an adult, I know this, but the target audience for this book is younger middle graders. We should be really careful with sending out this type of message.
But what I'm most disappointed about, is the fact that we missed out on an incredibly interesting and valuable lesson on letting go because the author was afraid to kill her darlings. Or rather, to set them free in the wild again.
vonneguts's review against another edition
2.0
SPOILERS
I love this series. I love Bat and his family. I love all the issues these books tackle and how they always stand firm in the perspective of a child. However, you do not get to undercut your ending like that. My mom was a wildlife rehabiltator and I grew up around a lot of animals I thought were pets and did not get to keep and often died in front of me. It was sad and I didn't always understand. one thing I enjoyed so much about this series (until now) was making Bat accept the hard reality of owning a wild animal! I know there's an afterward saying this can happen in real life but as a child who lived this everyday for years the ending of this series rang so untrue and a cheap way to get a happy ending. Uggghhh I should not be writing this this late at night but I am BUMMED out by the twist ending that left me very unsatisfied. The first 9/10th of the book set up beautifully all the steps Bat and his friends and family take for the summer ahead and the changes it will bring. But all of that tension is undercut when he gets to keep Thor! Even from a writing perspective it goes against everything, I feel, these books have been working for. there are a lot of really good heart wrenching moments written very well in this last instalment but now it all means nothing because the tension was not IF Bat got to keep Thor it was HOW does Bat move forward after Thor! He makes new friends he learns to trust a little more and even his sister gets more of an arc but it's all in services of a bland, unrealistic ending. Also I don't know what state they live in but this jargon is basically illegal and yeah animals who spent to much time around humans can't be relased but that's why it's unprofessional and often times just illegal to keep animals like that. I was not warmed by the ending I felt cheated and honestly it was a huge let down for a series I really enjoyed. I'm probably not a good judge because this series felt so much like my own childhood and Bat is such an enjoyable character that is fully realized and authentic so maybe I'm being too hard on this last installment (which is called freaking The end of everything!!! might as well call it Infinity War for what I was expecting, which might still be accurate because all the stakes are fake and you can just jump to the quantum relm where you get to keep your skunk pet.) So it's still probably great for kids and they will like when he keeps the skunk but that ain't how it works kids. you find a wild animal injured and you help, as you should, it ends sad. every time. 3 outcomes: the animal dies, you can NEVER keep it and if you do for some reason get to keep it you have failed to properly rehabilitate that animal-- uggghhh I don't like being this much of a downer and if you and your kids like the other two books you will like this one I just was hoping for a realistic depiction of the emotional fortitude it takes to care for animals. it's not pretty but that's okay, it still is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.
I love this series. I love Bat and his family. I love all the issues these books tackle and how they always stand firm in the perspective of a child. However, you do not get to undercut your ending like that. My mom was a wildlife rehabiltator and I grew up around a lot of animals I thought were pets and did not get to keep and often died in front of me. It was sad and I didn't always understand. one thing I enjoyed so much about this series (until now) was making Bat accept the hard reality of owning a wild animal! I know there's an afterward saying this can happen in real life but as a child who lived this everyday for years the ending of this series rang so untrue and a cheap way to get a happy ending. Uggghhh I should not be writing this this late at night but I am BUMMED out by the twist ending that left me very unsatisfied. The first 9/10th of the book set up beautifully all the steps Bat and his friends and family take for the summer ahead and the changes it will bring. But all of that tension is undercut when he gets to keep Thor! Even from a writing perspective it goes against everything, I feel, these books have been working for. there are a lot of really good heart wrenching moments written very well in this last instalment but now it all means nothing because the tension was not IF Bat got to keep Thor it was HOW does Bat move forward after Thor! He makes new friends he learns to trust a little more and even his sister gets more of an arc but it's all in services of a bland, unrealistic ending. Also I don't know what state they live in but this jargon is basically illegal and yeah animals who spent to much time around humans can't be relased but that's why it's unprofessional and often times just illegal to keep animals like that. I was not warmed by the ending I felt cheated and honestly it was a huge let down for a series I really enjoyed. I'm probably not a good judge because this series felt so much like my own childhood and Bat is such an enjoyable character that is fully realized and authentic so maybe I'm being too hard on this last installment (which is called freaking The end of everything!!! might as well call it Infinity War for what I was expecting, which might still be accurate because all the stakes are fake and you can just jump to the quantum relm where you get to keep your skunk pet.) So it's still probably great for kids and they will like when he keeps the skunk but that ain't how it works kids. you find a wild animal injured and you help, as you should, it ends sad. every time. 3 outcomes: the animal dies, you can NEVER keep it and if you do for some reason get to keep it you have failed to properly rehabilitate that animal-- uggghhh I don't like being this much of a downer and if you and your kids like the other two books you will like this one I just was hoping for a realistic depiction of the emotional fortitude it takes to care for animals. it's not pretty but that's okay, it still is one of the most rewarding experiences you can have.
roooley's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
5.0
This conclusion to the story of Bat and his beloved Skunk, Thor, was a wonderful one. While I will miss reading into the mind of Bat, this felt like a wonderful ending point with a conclusion I can be happy with. This series has been a great insight into the mind of a child on the spectrum, and has been very relatable to me, even as an adult, as I said in prior reviews. I plan to read more of the author's books in the future for sure.
alayamorning's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
wordnerd153's review against another edition
4.0
A very satisfying end to the series. I’ll miss Bat and Thor.